How can people love babies but hate teenagers?

Question

I'm just wondering...

A common thing that I hear among parents is them joking or griping about how awful their teenager is or how they dread their cute little babies becoming teens. I just don't understand how you can have a baby, love it and be all gaga about it then suddenly groan and openly mock your child about a certain stage of it's life. I'm not trying to accuse parents, but isn't that being some what of a hypocrite? You love your children unconditionally and wouldn't dare let anyone (let alone yourself) say anything bad about them when they are babies/toddlers/small children but that rule doesn't seem to hold as solid when they become teens. This seems so flip-floppy. Sorry, I just feel that if you're a parent that it's inappropriate to make jokes/gripe or whine about your child as a teenager, even if they are a little hard to handle. After all that's what babies become and that's what you were getting when you decided to have a baby in the first place.

Replies appreciated.

Answer 1

i wouldnt dream of doing that to my child. but, some people are like that. its the sam way with puppies too. people buy a puppy, love it, play with it, then once it gets old, they tie them to a chain outside and pretty much forget about them. its cruel both ways. everybody knows about the teenage years. i know when i was ateen, i was a handful. being daddys little girl and all. i can only imagine what im gonna have to go through with my son, but, im looking forward to it.

Answer 2

To begin with babies are designed/evolved to attract the nurture and affection of adult humans, especially parents.  Teenagers, on the other hand, are often in a state of rebellion, seeking to establish their own personal identity.  In the process, they tend to reject the family culture they know so well, and thus alienate their parents, care-takers and adults in general.

However, it is not all the fault of the teenagers.  The parents have had years to load up their kids with their own selfish, unfulfilled dreams and ambition, to try to live through their children, and contaminate them with their own issues and personal failures.  The teens have some right to resent their parents for doing so.  

Yet perhaps the worse thing that happens to most teens (in America, at least) is that they are surrounded by ignorant, lost and bewildered peer role models.  It is a classic case of the blind leading the blind, and the most disruptive (rebelious) getting the majority of attention, with peers following flashy, but foolish examples.

In the end, the teenagers "grow up" to become parents themselves, thus renewing the cycle of dysfunction, and fulfilling the parents' curse - their kids give them just as much trouble as they caused their own parents.

Answer 3

Honey, you havent lived long enough to understand, or you havent surrounded yourself by a wide range of children.    Babies are helpless, and cute, and they are beginning to learn and explore the world.  They are usually warm and inviting, and unless they hit their terrible two, dont really cause as much headaches.

Teens, are becoming adults, they are not cute and cuddly, they answer back, swear they know it all, are defiant as h**l, and we have to worry about them becoming pregnant, or getting someone pregnant, or using drugs and a variety of other things...things you dont have to go through with a baby.  

Its not that parents dont love thier kids, they do, they just dislike what they have to deal with when they become teens.

I baby sat babies, toddlers, teach preteens, have a teen sister, was once a teen, and live in a neighborhood filled with disrespectful teens...I know the h**l they can cause.  I like kids 10 and under.

EDIT:  It's not like adults are saying they hate them, cmon now, from a teacher's standpoint, its simply this, some people cannot relate to teens.  Just that simple.   You might work out great with teens since you seem patient and understanding.  It can also be the other way around.  Some of my collegues wouldnt dare walk into a pre-k class, they just cannot relate and hate everything that is involved with children of that age, how ever they do perfectly well with teenagers.   Dont take it so seriously, and bottom line, teens or babies can be annoying, depending on the type of personality you have

Answer 4

Have you ever met a teenager?

Answer 5

That is because teenagers are like nailing jello to a tree.